Cricket South Africa gives green light to India tour amid growing coronavirus threat

Amidst the novel coronavirus outbreak, Cricket South Africa has given the green light to the tour of India. South Africa will visit India this month for a short ODI series consisting of three games. There were apprehensions over the series as more than two dozens of cases of coronavirus emerged in India especially in Delhi.

But after taking into account all the scenarios, the CSA has decided to go ahead with the tour. In a statement released on Friday, CSA stated that a team of experts have deemed India and the team’s transit routes safe for travel. CSA’s chief medical officer Dr. Shuaib Manjra will make the trip with the team.

South Africa will leave for India on Sunday morning and will travel to India via Dubai. The visitors will then stay in Delhi for a day before leaving for Dharamsala where the first ODI will take place on March 12. Lucknow and Kolkata will host the other two games on March 15 and 18 respectively. None of the three cities for the upcoming series have reported any case of coronavirus so far.

“While the risk remains low, precautionary measures are necessary because of the highly infectious nature of the disease. The team has been appraised of hygiene precautions, avoidance measures, and symptom recognition in addition to being provided with travel kits,” a CSA statement read.

A few South Africa players to stay in India after the series

Meanwhile, this is the second time in less than a year that India and South Africa will be locking horns in a bilateral series. In September last year, South Africa had visited India for a three-match T20I and three-match Test series. The T20I series had ended 1-1 before India whitewashed the Proteas in the Tests.

While the ODI series lasts less than two weeks, a number of South African players will stay in India for the upcoming season of the IPL. The IPL starts on March 24 and will last till May 24. The league has also been given the green light albeit with precautions. So far, no cricket match has been called off due to the coronavirus outbreak.